Recruiters love a rich-country story: “If it works in the United States, it will work for you.” Look at the income-disclosure statements instead of the villa reels.
Staff at the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC) have analysed large sets of publicly available multi-level marketing (MLM) income disclosures — on the order of seventy statements across big and small firms. The pattern that keeps surfacing is blunt: most participants report very low annual earnings, often in the low hundreds of dollars a month or less, and in a non-trivial share of companies a majority report earning nothing at all. Those figures are usually before product purchases, shipping, training fees and travel. Once expenses land, “a little” becomes a loss.
How the glossy PDFs hide that is almost as important as the medians. Typical tricks: lead with the tiny elite who make large sums; bury or omit the percentage who earn zero; present averages that are pulled up by the tip of the pyramid; and ignore costs that every new recruit is nudged to pay. If a disclosure does not answer “what share of people earned nothing last year?” in plain numbers, it is not protecting you.
This is not a claim that every product company is illegal. Selling soap can be fine. The scam-adjacent risk starts when the pitch is a career built on recruiting, not on retail demand from people who sought the product out. Ask for the latest disclosure, count the unpaid majority, subtract realistic expenses, and decide whether you are buying inventory for a job that statistically does not pay.
If the answer is a webinar and a starter kit instead of a table, you already have your answer.
If an earnings-claim pitch left you out of pocket, start at Get help. Paid “recovery” of MLM losses is its own hazard — see Fake recovery.
This article is for general information only. It is not legal or financial advice. Details change. If you have lost money, contact your bank or card issuer and use the routes on the help pages.